Maybe you just stumbled here by
accident, maybe you were just curious, whatever the reason please don't
take it too seriously. Enjoy this web page for what it is - a
celebration of damsels at the stake, and NOT a snuff related page. If
any one has issues with any of the images posted here then please
contact me with your concerns.

The first movie I ever saw with a
beautiful damsel at the stake was Twins of Evil - a Hammer horror
classic from the 1970's. Since then I have been fascinated with this
theme and encouraged by others have set up this web site as a guide to
films, TV, stories and links to anything connected to this theme. If
this is not your 'thing' then just leave as easily as you arrived. Those
still here - please enjoy your stay.

What's it all about
then......

What kind of person enjoys this
sort of thing ?
This is a tough question and one that I feel I cannot express myself particularly
well, but I'll try.
Firstly, I have to say that I am totally against real life burnings at
the stake. The kind that were brutally carried out to thousands of
innocent people in the 1600's. People being executed in such a cruel and
unjust way is (I'm glad to say) now a thing of the past, but we'd do
well to remember that this modern fantasy's roots lie directly in that
horrible period of time. Most people who lost their lives in this era
were often innocent of any crime and were given no proper right of
speech or appeal.

But let us also remember that this site is based purely on fiction
and manipulation. I think for me that is the real beauty of it - knowing
that pictures have been manipulated, films have used special effects,
stories are just pure fiction. The knowledge that none of this is real
allows us to enjoy it as an erotic fantasy. In the opening page I
touched on TV and films using this scene to build dramatic tension and
gripping finales. Film and TV makers have used this imagery for years
now, and I suspect they will continue to use it for years to come,
directly because of the erotic undertones of seeing a beautiful woman
tied up and in mortal danger.

As for Burning at the stake in particular it's not too difficult to see
why this can be classed as erotic. For a start, there's always bondage
of some sort in a BATS scene. The lady in question must be tied or
chained to the stake. So much effort will go into making her the center
of attention for such a scene, for example she will usually be tied
above ground level, perhaps on some sort of platform, allowing everyone
to gaze upon her. The pyre itself can often be a complicated mix of
brush wood and 'pyramid' style log stacking. Once the pyre is lit, we
have plenty of time to watch as the fire grows around our damsel at the
stake. Will she be rescued - will she burn ? All of the time struggling
frantically to free her self from the bonds that restrain her. The whole
picture is a spectacular mix of horror and eroticism.
Some people like to see a rescue, some don't, but whatever your opinion
you know at the end of the day that this is not real.

So to sum up. Enjoy (what is often though of as a dark fantasy) for
whatever reasons you like. You may be just an all round guy/gal whose
take on this is that you find it erotic or sexually stimulating. That's
okay - you're not a 'weirdo' and you're not the only one either, I know
many who share this fantasy too. Don't be ashamed of something that's a
part of who you are - it's just that you've chosen to
explore it - rather than ignore it.

Another point of view

I asked a good friend of mine (Oberon)
who is also a BATS fan to try sum up his feelings in brief. I think he's
done a better job than me so here it is.

Why
burn women at the stake?Why
does this fantasy grip people so tightly, either as the executioner or
as the victim?

This is
not just a web phenomenon.The
film industry has been using such images for years in their productions,
and continues to do so, as you can see from the vidcaps shown on this
site.Nor is this a modern
phenomenon.Historians
record that attendance at witch burnings was almost universal, the
burnings being an occasion for entertainment and sociability, a break
from the daily routine.

I
suspect that this particular fantasy is closely linked to the dark
undercurrents that make Halloween as popular as it is.The unknown is frightening, but it is also entrancing, and death
is the greatest unknown of all.But
death is not only frightening; it can be erotic as well.Perhaps it is based on our race’s drive to procreation for the
survival of our species, but it has long been noted that sexual drive is
enhanced by the nearness of danger and death.

Add
to this the pageantry, the public display, the almost ritual procedure
of leading the frightened victim to the stake, of tying her to that
instrument of execution, of pronouncing the death sentence, of lighting
the fire; add to that the terror of the victim as the flames leap, and
the futile struggle to escape her fate; mix in, from the viewpoint of
the victim, the hundreds of eyes fixed upon her, her totally public
helplessness, and you have a perfect recipe for a sexual fantasy.It is not surprising, then, that often in such fantasies the
woman to be burnt is naked, or nearly so.

For
some it may be public humiliation, for others total helplessness in the
face of events, or the pageantry and drama involved.For others yet, and according to studies this includes between
ten and twenty percent of the population, sadomasochistic or bondage
fantasies have a strong allure.But
for whatever reason, a surprising number of people, especially women,
seem to entertain this fantasy of being burnt at the stake.